At the time, Father Gabriele Amorth, the Catholic Church's best known exorcist and the head of the International Association of Exorcists told La Repubblica newspaper: "The Pope is also the Bishop of Rome, and like any bishop he is also an exorcist.

"We live in an age in which God has been forgotten. And wherever God is not present, the Devil reigns."

The Catholic Encyclopedia defines exorcism as “the act of driving out, or warding off, demons, or evil spirits, from persons, places, or things, which are believed to be possessed or infested by them, or are liable to become victims or instruments of their malice”.

Apparently evil is on the rise. Earlier this year Rev Bamonte told La Repubblica: “Diabolical possessions are on the increase as a result of people subscribing to occultism.

“The few exorcists that we have in the dioceses are often not able to handle the enormous number of requests for help.”